Bottle-cap remover and holder



March 27, 1928. 1,664,047

a. M. SACERDOTE BOTTLE CAP REMOVER AND HOLDER Filed Jan. 27. 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 1 7 2 4 I m w 6 m .w. 1 a e a, m

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March 27, 1928.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I 5 I '0 f 71 02/1 (or am a/ Wllllllllllllllllll Patented Mar. 27, 19 28. i 1'? UNITED srA s PATENTOFFICE." r

v GUIDO M. SACEBDOTE, OF BAYSIDE, NEW 'YORK.

BOTTLE-CAP REMOVER Ann HOLDER.

. Application filed 'raiiuar aa sze. Serial No. 84,127.

This invention relates to means for removmoveris that if the device isoperative, the 7 ing paper caps such as ordinarlly used for cap is movedaway from its seat and is not sealing milk bottles and its primary obect held well EI Ugh by the p O to is to provide a cap remover of anovel and 1 beagain used as a covering for the bottle as 6 improveddesign by'means of which a paper long as. a covering is needed. 60 capmay easily and quickly be removed from The devices forming the object ofthe the top of a bottle. present invention afford an easier removalAnother object'of this invention is to pro of the cap by forcing thesame to rotate in vide a bottle cap remover of a simple and the plane ofits seat, previous to being actu- 1 inexpensive construction, adapted tobe'used ally detached from said seat, thus causing a 66 for removingpaper caps and the like from much more effective and gradual action,peri the top of bottles sealed thereby and adapted mitting the cap toleave its seat without any at the same time to hold'said capsothatnoticeable'difficulty; I p r 1 i it may be used as a removable coveringfor Another advantage is that .the cap can the bottle until such timewhen the bottle be replaced in its closing position by means has beenentirely emptied of its contents, of thecap remover and holder to whichit I when the paper cap may be removed from has become temporarilyattached, so that its holder and the device may be used fon the cap?thus becomes a permanent covering removing the cap from another bottle.for the bottle as long as needed.

20 Other objects and advantages of the pres- A still furtheradvantageisthe possibility ent invention will more fully appearas the of easyremoval of the cap from the holder description proceeds and will be setforth so'that when thecap is no longer needed, and claimed in theappended claims. it can easily be detachedand thrown away.

A method very widely used for the seal- In the drawings, I show severalembodiing of milk and cream bottles is that of forc ments of myinventive idea, which are ining a paper disc or cap within a suitableretended for illustrative purposes only and not cess provided at the"top of the bottle neck. in. a limiting sense; and in the same A discthus placed in closing positionres F ig; 1 isa plan view of a bottle capremains firmly held n said position due to mover and holder, of a simpledesign; 30 the fact that it its very tightly in the hous- [Fig 2 1s across sectional view in elevas5 ing provided therefor-j In order toremove tion of the same; such caps it is generally necessary to insert 3is a cross sectional View in'elevaa knife blade betweenthe edge of thecap tion of the same as applied to the topof a and the wall surroundingit and to force the milk bottle previous to the removal of the cap outusing-the knife as a'lever. A cap cap, I h r removed inthis manner isgenerally distorted Fig. 4 is a side view in elevation of the a and madeunlit for further use, and the op.- same, moved away from the. top ofthe bottle eration itself is rather inconvenient and. apt together'withthe cap, 1 to cause soiling of 'the hands of the operator Fig. 5 is aplan view of a bottle cap re-. -10 by milk which hasspilled or splashedor mover and holder of a. somewhat different by the layer of cream whichgenerally adconstruction, being means for the ejection of heres to thecap. the capfrom the holder when the cap is no Devices for removing capsof this descrip longer needed; r tion have been made, utilizing the corkscrew Fig; 6 is across sectional view in elevation 45 action of a spiraldepending from a metal of the same; I

cap which may be placed on top of. the bottle Fig. 7 is a crosssectional View in eleva-. and rotated, the sharp end of the spiralention of the same as applied to the top of tering the cap'and graduallypulling it the bottle previousto the removal of the away from itsseat.However, Ihave found cap; I 50 such devices to be most inconvenientbecause Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view in elevation the pulling actionrequired to detach the of the same moved away from the top ofthe capfrom its seat is very considerable and bottle together with the cap; 1 Ithe paper is likely to be torn rather than Fig. 9 is a cross sectionalview in elevaremoved. tion of a. device similar to that'shown in 55Another objection of this type of c'apre- Figs. 1 to 4, in a, modifiedform, 4

Fig. 10 is a plan View of a device somewhat similar to that of Fig. 9made from a single piece of sheet metal;

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view in eleva-' Fig. leis a cross sectlonalview in elevation of the same. in a position where it is about to beinserted through'a cap Fig. 15 is a similar view illustrating the mannerof ejecting thecap from the holder; Fig. 1.6 is a cross sectional. viewin eleva tion of the device: of Fig. 12,]tln-ough line 16+-16 of Fig.12, without the ejecting means; i y

Fig. 17 is across sectional view of a device of a simplified type,having an opening through'which the thumb may be inserted in order toeject the cap; and

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary cross sectional view in elevation in anenlargedscale illustrating the manner of sharpening the prongs of the devicespreviouslyillustrated.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 10 designates a bottle cap remover-and holderconsisting of a disc or body portion 11 preferably formed with a beadedrim portion 12 adapted to fit upon the top of the bottle neck andprovided with a plurality of depending lugs or clips registering withthe outer circumference of the neck of the bottle andactingt-herefore,as positioning means for the device when it is placed in position,permitting axial displacement of the device only when the same iscentrally placed in relation to the neck of the bottle. I

The deviceis. provided or formed with two or more downwardly projectingprongs such as '14, adapted to pierce the paper or other ,inat'erial of,which the cap is made, when the device is forced against the top of theneck of the bottle; the distance of said prongs from the center of thedevice is therefore. slightly less than the radius of the opening in thebottle neck underneath the cap.

The device isplaced in position as shown in Fig. 3, where 15 designatesthe top portion of the neck of an ordinarymilk bottle and 16 designatesa paper cap such as ordinarily used for sealing such bottles, and. is

forced at the top of opening 17 of neck portion15, within anupper recess18, the diame ter of which is somewhat larger than the diameter ofopening 17.

The device is forced downwardly uponthe top-of the neck. of the bottlewith sutiir-ient pressure to force its prongs 1 1- to pierce thepaper-cap; in order to obtain an effective piercing action it is.advisable to sharpen the points of said prongs and it is also advisableto have the prongs within the range 7 slow pressure to give a quick tapto the device to force its prongs through the paper, because thisinsures a quicker and more effective action; therefore, the top of thedevice is preferably made free from upward projections of any kind soas'to be well adapted for this'mode' of operation.

By now rotating the device around its axis, the cap engaged thereby isalso forced to rotate and by this action is loosened from its seat andmade easily detachable therefrom; in fact, it is sufficient in order todetach the cap torotate the device of a small angle and then by removingthe device from the top of the bottle, the cap will follow as a matterof fact being frictionally held by the prongs inserted through it. p

, In the form shown, the prongs are provided with a horizontallyextending notch 19 at a point calculated to register with the 9thickness of the paper cap when the device has been inserted in positionand the inner surface of the samerests against the top of the neck-rim;or else the prongs are formed with a lateral extension 20 on a levelwiththe top edge of the notch, or the device is otherwise provided withmeans for limiting its downward travel to a point where the,

notches will register with the thickness of the papercap:

It is obvious that by means of this an rangeinent, once the device hasbeen pressed downwardly, forcing the prongs to pierce through the papercap, until the means limitingthe downward travel'of the device come toabut against their arresting surface, a slight rotation of the devicewill causeits notches 19 to engage the paper cap and to hold itaga-inst. axial movement in. relation to the holder before the paper capis actually forced to follow the rotation of the holder; and when theholder is subsequently moved away from the bottle, the cap will also beremoved being aetuallycarried away by the holder, due to its positiveinterlocking therewith, due to the thickness of-the paper cap enteringnotches 19.

The paper cap s thus permanently positioned in an axial direction inrelation to the holder and the two together form asuit able covering forthe bottlewhichcan be used over and over again.

The arrangement thus described, therefore,.provi'des a very convenientmeans of removing-therap' of amilk bottle without tearing it and at thesame time it also affords a convenient means for as long asneeded.

preservingsaid cap lift) iii The cap is obviously a mostfconvenientmeans for. closing the bottle, not only because i it perfectly fits theseat providedtherefor,

but also because it is thoroughly sanitary, having been sterilizedbefore use. When the bottle has finally been emptied of its contents thecap can be removed from its holder by hand and thrown away, leaving theholder free for use in connection with 'the next the present case causethe cap to follow owbottle. I v

In Figs. 5 to 8, I illustrate another device designed for the samepurpose but of a somewhat different construction. Like in thepreviouscase, the same comprises a body portion, preferably provided with abeaded rim portion'22 and with guiding lugs 23, similar in'every respectto the device previously described. "Also in this case, the device isformed or-provided with means foripiercing thepaper cap which are, shownin the form of sharp points 24, projecting from the top of the deviceanddistributed around a circumference which is slightly smallenthan that ofopening 17 in the neck of the bottle.

The features which distinguish thepresent device from the one previouslydescribed, are a cork screw member 25 rotatably' mountb edcentrally ofthe topofthe device and operable by means of a handle or ring 26projecting from said top and springs 27 interposed between the innersurface 'of the top of the device and the upper surface of the papercap, said springs being; forced in wardly by the paper cap when thedevice is pressed into position.

The device 18 inserted over the top of the bottle, being positionedcentrally'of said top by lugs 28, and is then forced downwardly causingprongs or points 24 to pierce the paper cap. The cork screw member 25 ispreferably shorter than prongs 24, therefore the prongs have alreadypierced the cap before the corkscrew member reaches it. Now, whiledownward pressure upon the device is maintained by one hand, the corkscrew member is rotated by the other hand and forced to penetrate thepaper cap until the lower surface of the topof the device abuts againstthe top of the rim and the bottle.

It'will be observed that the point atwhich the cork screw member piercesthe paper cap shouldbe at a distance from the center equal to'th'eradius of the'coil forming the cork screw member; that is, the piercingpoint should be bent parallel to the axis of the coil from a point alongitscircumference. However, if preferable, the, piercing end'of the corkscrew membermay be made centrally thereto and in this case the corkscrew member should be attached loosely to the body of the device so asto be free to swing-at anangle to the central line of the device fromits point of attachment to enable its coil to follow the opening throughthe paper without tearing the paper itself. 1

In this position, whi h is illustrated in Fig. 7, springs 27 havebeen'pressed inwardly due to the gradual diminishing distance betweenthe under surface of the device and the upper surface of the cap, thecapbeing maintained against axial'displacement by the retaining action ofthe cork screw member. I

A slight rotation of the device will also in other hand inorder todetach the paper cap as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8.

The action of the cork screw member which is obvious, forces the capoutwardly, the cap being prevented from rotating by the prongs passingthrough it, and the energy accumulated in the springs will assist'thecork screw member in expelling the cap,

which can thus be disposed of without the necessity of touching it atany time. It will be understood that the use of the springs is optional,because'the action of the cork screw member is usually suflicient toexpel the cap.

It will also be understood that while the screw member acts aspositioning and inter locking means holding the cap in a definite axialposition in'relation tothe holder, said cork screw memberisnot the meansactually used to loosen the cap from its seat. It has been explainedbefore, that a pulling action in an axial direction is likely to beineffective due to the considerable resistance offered by the cap; but aslight angular movement of the cap around its axis is thoroughlyeffective in this respect and permits the easy subsequent removal of thecap by the cork member-or by any other means.

Also 'in'this case, it is preferable to operate the device by giving aquick tap against its upper surface, and therefore, ring 26 is preftheprevious case, of a body portion 29 pro- 'vided with a plurality ofdownwardly directed centering or gulding lugs 30, registering with theouter circumference of the neck of a milk bottle. From the underside ofsaid body portion 29, extend downwardly projecting prongs 31, which maybe two, or three, or more in number arranged along a circumference of adiameter slightly less: than-that of opening 17 in the neck of the illmilkbott-le, These prongs are merely made with irregular shaped or roughedges, for instance, in the shapeof an arrowhead, illuss trated.

The result is that when the paper is. pierced by these prong-s. it.becomes frictionally attached thereto, due to the difii'culty inextracting the prongs from the openings made bythem, .and the cap willoutright become a. part of the devicewithout the necessity of providing;the prongs witlthorh zontally retaining slots such as 19.

This construction is somewhat le s eXpe h sive than that of the deviceshown in Figs.

- l, to4,requirin g dies and tools 'of less ex" pensive construction forits production, and its action is quite as effective.

Prongs 31, can, of course, be bient downwardlyfrom the top of the deviceas shown in the case of prongs let in Figs. 1 to 4.. However, it may atvtimes be preferalile to make, the body of the device ofa certainmaterial selected on account of its appearance, while it may bepreferable to; make the prongs of some other material selected. 11 aount of its. strength; forinstance, the body of the device may be madeof light gauge aluminum, which might not be strong enough, for thepiercing action to be performed by the prongs;therefore, the prongs maybeproduced from a piece of light sheet steel of the. proper gauge andstrength, which may be secured to the alum: inum body in any suitablemanner. Fig. 9 illustrates a device built. along these lines, whereprongs 31 are bent downwardly from a disk or plate 82; of sheet steel orof some other material having a sufficient resistance, said disk: 32being attached to. the underside of the body portion of the device, fprinstance, by means of rivets 33.

It will be observed! that a device of this character, must answerseveral require ments; one is an attractiveappearance, another one issufficient strength to perform the work of piercing the'paper, anotherone is the-ease of cleaning; and of keeping clean, and still another oneis to be preferably made of metal notattacked by the contents of thebottle. nor by the elements, so as to insure sanitary conditionsthroughout. If material of sufliciently heavy gauge is used, aluminiumanswers. all these conditions well.

For a lighter gauge article, if aluminum is used for the body portion,the prongs should be of steel, preferably stainless steel; or else theentire device maybe made from a piece of sheet nickel or. Monel' metal,both these materialsanswering sanitary and appearance rquirements andhaving the necessary strength. e

In Figs. and 11, I illustrate a, device somewhat similar to. the one ofF 9 but having its prongs made integral with they body thereof. In the;same 34 designates res ore the body proper. which may be. fiat orheaded;

and which, like in the previous Case is provided with. dependingcentering or guiding lugs 35 assisting in the proper positioning of the;device. The prongsgfi. are also in this case arranged around acircumference of slightly less diameter than the opening in. the ,neckof the milk bottle underneath the caplfbut in this instance, the prongsare cut andberrt. directly downwardly from thebody Ofthefdevice,asshown.v i The shape of the prongs iS. also different from. that of prongs 31in. thisxres'pect. that. prongs 31 have the shape of an arrowheadcomprising a barb,.'a narrow neck portion above the herb and a taperingshank, while prongs, 36. are made in. the shape of cone tinuous taperingpoints with side notches at a suitable distance from. their. lower endwhich ,rovidie convenient means for effecti-n the angular movement ofthe device neces: sary toloosen the cap.

.gIt will be observed that. the devicesso far described, separatelyillustrate features which are new and important in devices of"thischaracter; one feature being the simplified" construction of adevice having a Pillrality of prongs formed together with the body fromasingle. piece of sheetmetah-this providing an eflicient, reliableand-at the sametinfle inexpensive construction, These prongs naturallyvery thin and easy cutting, and furthermore, owing tothe construction ofthe device they can be positioned so that they are quite close'tothesideoffthe opening 17 of the milk bottle. This is quite important,becau-seif the prongs are placed even at amoderate distance from theside of the opening, the papercap is likely to bulge and. to give,especially when wetgso. that no piercing action would take place and thevery object for which the device is intended would bedefeatedw I 7Another feature is the provision of means for ejecting the cap from theholder. I havefound. that the latter feature is extremelydesirablebecause the cap can only bedetached from the holder withdifiiculty, and:

the sharp prongs are apt to, injure thefingers of the user. However, theejecting" means shown, in Figs. 5 to 8, while'eflicient are of a ratherexpensive character, and therefore, I

and consists of a body 39 which is substanv tially the same as that ofthe device of Figs. 10, 11 except that it has a central opening 40limited by downwardly and inwardly bent segmental sections 41, forming aguide for an ejector 42. Said ejector is capable of limitedaxialmovement in relation to the body of the device and has its outercircumferential portion close to the inner side of the prongs sothatwhen the ejector is forced inwardly in an axial direction, its lowersurface will bear against the cap, held by the prongs and will force thecap away from the holder. After the ejector is insert-ed in its housingit may be retained therein by means ofinwardly. bent lugs such as 13openedby piercing and bending inwardly portions of the body of thedevice close-to the central opening 40. The

device is also in this case preferably pro-l vided withdependingpositioning lugs 44 and with lateral or radial extensions 45 inorder to facilitate its use. i

The device is placed in position as shown in Fig. 14 withthe'assistance'of the centering lugsfld insuring proper positioning ofthe prongs 46. The device is then forced V j I caps of the characterdescribed, abody portion provided with a plurality of members extendingadapted topierce the 'paper' cap .to be redownwardly, causing the prongsto pierce the cap and to engageit by means of their notches 17, so thatthe cap can be subsequently removed in the manner previously explained,becoming .attached to the holder as shown in Fig. 13. Also in this case,the

cap remains so positioned in an axial relation to the holder that it canbe used over and over again to seal .the milk bottle as long as needed,and when removal ofjthe cap is desired, it is suflicient to force theejector 4-2 downwardly as far as it willrgo as shown in Fig. 15 byinserting the thumb through opening 40f'and thefc'ap' will be forcedaway from its position of engagement by the prongs,andthen can easilyberemoved by hand.

Referring toFigs. 16 and 18 it will be observed that the prongs 46 whichare circumferentially arranged may be conveniently sharpened bymeans ofa tapering grinding wheel 48 which will'shar'pen all the three or fourprongs in a single operation, by forcing the device against the grindingwheel in an axial direction, I In Fig. 17, I illustrate a device of astill different construction which is the preferred type on account ofits utter simplicity, efii ciency and low costof manufacture. The

device comprises a body 49 which may be fiat or headed to fit the top ofthe milk bottle, provided as in the previous case with a plurality ofcircumferentially arranged prongs 50 adapted to pierce and engage thecap in the manner previously descrlbed. The device is alsoprovided withpositioning or guiding lugs 51 registering-with the outer circumferenceof the rim of the bottle neck and isjalso preferably provided withlateral or radial extensions 52 affording means for facilitatingtheangular movement of the device after piercing the cap.

A novel feature of the present device is a central opening 53, whichpermits the thumb to be inserted to be pressed directly against the capin order to force the cap away from the prongs as [the drawing, shows.In this mannertliei'e are no ejecting means proper provided but theopening itselfpernlits of ejecting the cap from the rear making its.

removal much easier and doing away with all possibility ofcausing injuryto the hands of the user. Therefore, in this preferred form, the device"possesses an. thedesirable features mentioned before and very conveniently serves the purpose for which'it has been designed.

. It is obvious that the invention maybe carried into practice in waysdifferent from those shown ;"therefore, I reserve myself the right touse my invention in anyway or forin which may come fairly within thescope of the appended-claims.

I claim;

1. In a device forremoving paper bottle from the underside. thereof,

moved when said. body'portionis forced towards said paper capin an axialdirection, said body P01131011 being provlded with an opening throughwhich an e ecting action moved when said bo'dy'portion is forced towardssaid paper cap in an axial direction, said .body portion being provided.witlian opening through which an ejecting action may be exerted in orderto force the cap away from the said members.

'3. In a device for' removing paper bottle caps'of the characterdescribed, a body por tion, positioning means therefor dependingtherefrom, and a plurality of members extending from the underside ofsaid body portion, adapted to pierce the paper cap to be removed when.said body portion is forced towards saidpapercap in an axial. direction,said body portion being provided withan opening through which anejecting action may be exerted in order to force the cap away from thesaid members. I

4. In a device for removing paper bottle 1' caps of the characterdescribed, a body portion, positioning means therefor, dependingtherefrom, and a plurality of members integral therewith, extending fromthe under side thereof, adapted to pierce the paper cap to be removedwhen said body portion is forced towards said paper cap in an axialdirection, said body portion being provided with an-opening throughwhich an ejecting action maybe exerted in order to force the 'cap awayfrom the said members.

5. In adevice for removing vpaper"bottle caps v of the characterdescribed, -,a body portion,

a plurality of circum terentially arranged positioning lugs dependingtherefrom, a plurality of prongs integral with saidfbody portiondownwardly extending therefrom,

:said ,prongs being arranged along .a circumi'erence ofa diameterslightly less than that of the opening underneath the ,paper cap to beremoved, and being adapted Ito;pierce and] engage wsaid ,paper cap, andan opening in said body ,portion through which an ejecting action maybeexerted, to force the cap away from said prongs. I i V I 6. In a devicefor removing paper bottle caps of the character described, a bodyportion, and a plurality of members extending from the undersidethereof, adapted to pierce the vpaper cap to be removed when said bodyportion is forced towardssaid paper cap in an axial direction, therebyengaging saidcap, said body portion being provided with an opening:through which the finger of the .usermay be inserted in order "to torcethe cap away from S3111 members. 7

3'. In :a devlce forremoving paper bottle caps of the 'characterdescribed, a body ,portion, and a plurality of prongs integraltherewith, extending from the underside '8. In a device for removingpaper bottle caps of the character described, a body poring therefrom,said prongs being. arranged alongacircumierence of a diameter slightly Y.1 r a p less than that of theopemngunderneath the paper cap toberemo'ved, and being adapted,

to pierce and to engage said cap,'said body portion being provided withan opening f through' which the-fingeroi: the user can be inserted .inorder to force fr'omsaid prongs. v I 19. In 'a device for removing capsof the eharacter des'cribed, a body portion, a plurality 'ol ,prongsintegral therewith and depending therefrom, sa'id prongs said cap awaypaper fbottle being adapted to pierce and I to engage the paper cap :tobe removed, positioning means for said body portion depending therefrom,

lateral extensions from said body portion,

mentfithereof, and an opening through saidf body portion through whichthe finger of the user canbe inserted inorder to iI'OTC e the cap awayfrom saidjp'rongs.

10. In a device of thedescribed, the

coinhinatlon'with a"body"portion or a prong 'adaptecl to piercea papercap, depending {from said bodyportion, said prong being iilI lIIIIQCldCfWD to a sharp. poi'ntin thesense of'i ts thickness in order toimprove its'piierci ng ac'ti on, sa i'd hotly portion being provided jwith an opening through which. an "ejecting action may b e e'xertedl inorder to force the fi' we r r .s [11. Itnadvlce for removing paperbottle caps of the character described, the combination [with paper/cappiercing means, cit a body portion w from the underside of which saidpiercing means extend, said "body 1001:-

which the finger'of "the usermay be inserted piercing means.

GUIiDo lvif isironnno'rn.

"in order to force/the :cap awz'iy from said 50 'tion a plurality ofpositioning lugs depend ing there-from, and a plurality oat prongs in-,.iteg-rail with said body portion and depend-

